Gov. Jan Brewer speaks proudly of her role in lifting the state out of the massive deficit she inherited in 2009. And with her final budget proposal, she seems intent on making sure her successor doesn’t have to say the same thing.

This year's state budget took a tumultuous path, pitting Republicans against each other, trying the patience of Democrats, leaving outside observers in the dark and breaking nearly every possible protocol before ending up on the desk of Gov. Jan Brewer. This was clearly nothing anybody learned in a high school civics class.